Lab Alumni

Lab Alumni

Davida Alexander

From Marietta GeorgiaGraduate of Alabama A&M UniversityBS in Food Science and Technology

Research Focus

1) Characterizing temperature and radiation effects on select oils 2) then characterizing filtration effects on oils 3) characterize effects of radiation and time on oil quality in peanuts 4) finding ways to optimize oil quality using different packaging materials.

Yashodhar Burgula

Biography

Yash is from India, born and brought up in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. He got his Bachelors degree in Dairy Technology from the National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, India in 1998. After working for 2 years with GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Healthcare with the Horlicks manufacturing team in India, he went to the University of Minnesota, Twin cities for his MS in Food Science and graduated in spring 2003. Yash's research at UMN focused on food safety issues related to Salmonella in cultured dairy products. Yash loves to spend time reading, visiting new places, web page designing and playing tennis. After working with General Mills, Golden Valley, MN as an intern for 9 months with the extrusion processing group he joined Dr Lisa Mauer's research group in May, 2003 for his PhD in Food Science.

Research Interest

Yash's current research interests include working on developing FT-IR methods for detection of microbial contaminants in food.

'Development of a method for the detection of Salmonella Typhimurium using FT-IR spectroscopy', presented at IFT's International Conference in Orlando, FL, November, 2003

'Non-selective Differential Media for the Recovery of Stressed Salmonella From Cultured Dairy Products', presented at the IAFP, Annual Meeting, San Diego, June 2002

Alona Chernyshova

Biography

Alona Chernyshova earned her B.S. degree in Agronomy at the National Agriculture University in . Alona got her M.S. Degree in Plant Breeding and Genetics at Iowa State University . Alona is pursuing a Ph.D. in Food Science at Purdue University with Dr. Lisa Mauer as her Co-Major Professor. Her research focuses on screening of corn starch digestibility using enzymatic and NIR assays.

Reeta Davis

Biography

Reeta was born and brought up in Kerala, India, and obtained a Bachelor's degree in Food Science and Quality Control in May, 1999, and Master's in Microbiology in Feb, 2003, from Mahatma Gandhi University , Kottayam, Kerala. She also completed a PG diploma in Food analysis and Quality assurance from the Defense Food Research Laboratory, Mysore in June, 2000. She completed her PhD. programme in Biotechnology at Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, in April, 2008 and joined Dr. Mauer's Research Group in July, 2008 as a post doctoral research associate.

Research Interest

My current research interests include development of FT-IR techniques and sensors for identification and detection of food-borne pathogens.

Jake Gandolph

Biography

Jake was born in Indianapolis, came to Purdue in 1999 to initially pursue chemical engineering, and received his B.S. in Food Science in 2003. He joined the Mauer research group in January of 2004 as part of the ALS NSCORT (NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training in Advanced Life Support) project.

Research Focus

Jake's research focused on determining the effects that low dose gamma-radiation will have on lipids and antioxidants. Radiation is one of the top concerns for NASA on a mission to Mars not only for the astronauts, but for the food as well.

Mohamed Ghorab

Biography

Mohamad received a B.Sc. in pharmaceutical sciences from Cairo University, Egypt, and a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA. He has both industry experience (senior research scientist in the solids-pharmaceutical R&D department at Wyeth) and academic experience (associate professor of pharmaceutics and industrial pharmacy, Kelwan University, Egypt).

Research Focus

Mohamad worked with crystalline-amorphous powder blends, monitoring the effects of co-formulation on water-solid interactions and physical stability.

Diego Granizo

Diego joined the lab to work on water analysis in foods using NMR techniques. He was funded by the LASPAU program. After completing his MS degree, he continued his education, earning an MBA from Yale University.

Ashley Hiatt

Biography

Ashley is from South Bend, Indiana, and received her B.S. degree with distinction in research in Food Science from Cornell University. Her undergraduate work included investigating the effects of baking on the chemical form of hydrogen reduced elemental iron powder and implications for iron bioavailability. She recently completed a Master's degree bypass and is working on her Ph.D. with Dr. Mauer.

Research Interest

Ashley's research focuses on the impact of deliquescence and formulation with vitamin C on the chemical stability of food blends containing bioactive ingredients.​

Sol Kim

Biography

Dr. Sol Kim earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Food Science and Technology from Seoul National University, Korea. After working at Korean Food Research Institute for two years, he obtained a Ph. D. degree at Kansas State University in July of 2003. During his Ph. D. program, he studied the antimicrobial effect of various tea extracts on foodborne pathogens and development of innovative microbiological methods. As well, he worked for the International Workshop of Rapid Methods and Automation in Microbiology held in Manhattan, Kansas annually. In August of 2003, he started working with Drs. Mauer and Applegate as a post-doctorate. His current research interest is to develop rapid methods for detection and identification of foodborne pathogens using FTIR and multiplex PCR techniques.

Research Focus

The overall goal for my research interests is to improve food safety so that consumers can get safer food products using a two-pronged approach for detection and control of foodborne microorganisms. For this, my research will be focused on the following areas: (1) rapid detection or identification of foodborne pathogens using biosensors and/or genetic engineering techniques; (2) control of foodborne pathogens using natural antimicrobial agents; and (3) development of innovative methods for general food microbiology.

Krystin
is from Marietta, GA, and received her B.S. degrees in food science and applied
biotechnology from the University of Georgia in 2010. She is working on
her graduate degree at Purdue and is supported by the Industry Fellows program.

Research Focus

Effects
of formulation, temperature, and relative humidity on deliquescence behavior of
crystalline powders and the glass transition behavior of amorphous powders,
with a focus on what happens when the two are blended together.​

Winnie Octavia

Biography

I come from a small town in Indonesia, called Malang. After I graduated from high school in Indonesia (2001), I went to Purdue University to get my BS in Food Science. In 2004, I joined Dr. Mauer's lab to work on honor research project. My honor project was focusing on the effects of casein concentrations and heat treatment on plasmin activity. After I got my BS, I continued working under Dr. Mauer to get my MS. I love to spend my time reading fictions, shopping, and visiting new places. Also, I love to try all kinds of new food, especially hot and spicy ones.

Research Focus

My current research interest is determining the secondary structure and location of ß-casein as the effects of temperature and high treatment. I am interested in using CD and FTIR to predict the protein structure and using fluorescence labeling to track protein location.

Julieta Ortiz

Biography

Julieta Ortiz was born on 07/07/1965. She went to the University of San Carlos in Guatemala City and studied a B.S. degree in Chemistry. Her B.S. thesis was about the isolation and characterization of trypsin inhibitors in black beans. She then studied a Master's Degree in Food Science at Del Valle University also in Guatemala City, where she worked in the physical and chemical characterization of the fat form Theobroma bicolor. She came to Purdue to pursue her Ph.D. in Food Science. Her research is about deliquescence in multicomponent food systems. She is the mother of three wonderful boys.

Alecia Tamar Shand

Biography

I was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica of the West Indies. I did my B.Sc. in General Chemistry and Food Chemistry at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. I then worked for the Scientific Research Council in Jamaica for almost 2 yrs in the Analytical Services Department where I wore many hats. Now I am here doing my Masters in Food Science with Dr. Mauer as my Advisor.

Research Focus

I will be determining the effects of common food processes and space food storage conditions on nutrient profiles and quality traits of a selection of fruits and vegetables for NASA.

Adam Stoklosa

Biography

Adam Stoklosa is originally from Chicago, Illinois and came to Purdue on the Evans Scholarship. He earned his B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology at Purdue University and joined Dr. Lisa Mauer's group in July 2004. He is currently working on his Master's, but plans on staying for his Ph. D. He enjoys golfing, cooking, watching movies, running, and traveling.

Research Focus

Adam's research focuses on characterizing Apogee and Perigee wheat cultivars designed specifically for the mission to Mars and to determine how these cultivars react upon exposure to elevated levels of radiations.

Linna Wang

Biography

Linna Wang (pronounced as Lynna Wong) is from Jinan, China. She received a B.S. degree in Microbiology from Shandong University, China and a M.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from Tsinghua University, China. In August of 1999, she came to Purdue University to study Food Science under the guidance of Dr. Bernie Tao. She studied soy proteins and developed soy oleosin protein based edible films and coatings and received her Ph.D. degree in May 2004. Shortly after graduation, she started working with Dr. Mauer as a post-doc research associate.

Research Focus

Linna's current research focuses on developing fluorescent labeling method to quantify plasmin system components. She investigates the effects of heat and ß-Lactoglobulin on location and concentration of plasmin system components in bovine milk model systems.

Megan West grew up north of Chicago and comes from a Purdue family - both of her parents are Boilermakers in addition to several other family members. After completing one year of undergraduate work at UC San Diego, she transferred to Purdue and received her B.S. in biochemistry in 2008. She went back to California, this time to UC Davis, and completed one year of graduate work in the Agricultural & Environmental Chemistry program before returning to Purdue to complete her PhD in the Department of Food Science. She was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in the spring of 2007 and in her spare time plays polo and works with horses.

Research Focus

Analysis and stability of flavonoids, with an emphasis on anthocyanins.